


Laura

by Zoe13



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 01:20:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe13/pseuds/Zoe13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles' eighteenth birthday comes around, he's not the only one who gets surprises. Derek gets one of his own- Laura Hale.</p><p>Or, the one where Laura isn't dead after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, hopefully this story will be better than the last. I have it much better planned out, so it should be. ^_^

"Stiles Stilinski, get your butt out of this house or so help me-" 

Lydia's voice trailed off and Stiles jumped off the bed, running down the stairs and almost colliding with the girl on the bottom landing. 

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving. But what am I supposed to do until you're done?" he whined. Lydia thought for a second.

"Derek! You're being useless. Get Stiles out of here until we're done."

"Crap, you didn't have to go that far!" Stiles whined louder, facepalming. Derek stuck his head around the door and glared. Stiles stuck his tongue out at him to show that he was joking. 

"What am I supposed to do with him?" the alpha grouched. Lydia shrugged. 

"Just go canoodle somewhere or whatever you freaks do. I need Stiles out of here so we can set up for his birthday, and you're the only one that's got time."

"Don't sound too affectionate, Lydia, people might think you care." Stiles laid a hand over his heart and skipped away from Lydia's flailing fist. "Okay! I'm out. Just don't let dad get into any food before we eat. He's already gonna have a heart attack from all the food Isaac sneaks in for him."

"It's not that much," Isaac said innocently, wide eyes watching Stiles. 

"Yeah, yeah. Cute." 

"Come on, Stiles," Derek ordered, stepping out the door. 

"Au revoir!" Stiles waved, blowing kisses and shutting the door behind him. There was a crash inside and he cringed. 

"Are you coming?" Derek asked, a little less grouchily this time. Stiles rolled his eyes anyway.

"Yeah. Doth my carriage await?"

"Will my car do?" Derek teased, and Stiles raised an eyebrow. Derek seemed to be in a good mood now that he was out of the house.

"Okay, let's go."  
__

They got coffee and wandered around aimlessly for a while. Neither talked, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. Derek seemed surprised at the absence of relentless chatter, but didn't comment on it, opting instead to glance at him every now and then. 

The cold air had Stiles clutching his warm coffee in between his hands, trying to warm them, and Derek must have noticed because he silently handed Stiles his gloves.

"Oh, I'm fine, Derek, you don't-"

"It's alright. I'm a werewolf, remember? I don't even really get cold."

Stiles nodded finally and slipped the gloves on. They were large, but not as large on him as he'd thought they would be. He and Derek were actually close in height, though the alpha was significantly larger in bulk.

"Lydia's probably making everything pink," Derek said after a while. Stiles snickered. 

"I'll bet Erica's painting Jackson's fingernails right now. He was asleep when we left."

"Yeah... And Isaac's probably making your dad bacon."

Stiles sighed. "I need to talk to him about that. I don't even know why he does it."

"I'm not sure," Derek said musingly. Stiles smiled to himself as he took another sip of his coffee. This was nice, just walking. Sure, they were walking circles around the town, but Derek wasn't too bad to talk to once he relaxed a bit. 

Suddenly Derek tensed, and Stiles turned, looking in the direction the alpha was looking. He was rigid, standing still and staring ahead. Stiles followed his gaze. Across the quiet street and by the bank stood two girls. One had her back to him, but the other was facing them, head turned a bit to the side as she looked eastward. She was tall and thin, and her light brown hair was in a bun. She seemed ever alert, her body tensed up like Derek's was around people he didn't know. 

He knew that face. He'd only seen it for a moment, but-

"Laura?"

Derek was still standing there, his face ashen and his lips trembling. Stiles had never seen him display so much emotion. The second girl turned and grabbed the first girl's hand, leading her away. Stiles was still frozen for a moment, glued to the ground in shock.

"But it can't be her," he exclaimed after a moment. "She's...gone." With a start he realized that Derek was leaning against the building behind him, trembling. 

"It's not," he said. "But it looks- she's so much-"

"Hey, hey. Sh...it's alright." Stiles put a hand on Derek's shoulder, feeling a bit helpless. He understood, really he did. He'd often seen women he'd thought were his mother after she'd died. He just didn't know how to help Derek. Tentatively he reached out and wrapped his arms around him, surprised when he let him and even leaned into him, calming down and breathing regularly again. 

Stiles stepped back after a moment. "Better?"

"Yeah." Derek nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. It happens to me a lot- the panic attacks. That girl sort of scared me too. I wonder who she is and what she's doing here; people don't visit often. There's not really a reason to come here. Though...maybe she has relatives here."

Turning away and pretending to look down the street, he gave Derek a moment to calm down completely and then finished off his coffee, chucking it into a trash can. He checked his phone as he got a text.

"Hey, Lyds says they're done. Let's head back."

"Alright," Derek said, but he seemed to be in another world. Stiles couldn't blame him. 

He glanced back at the corner where the two girls had disappeared and shrugged. It was a strange coincidence.


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles shut the door behind him, turned, and blinked. Then he shut his eyes. 

"Ooow. I mean, it's lovely!"

There wasn't only pink everywhere, but all of the other colors were blindingly neon. Streamers hung from almost everything that anything could be hung from, and there were enough balloons in the room to sail the house like an airship. Or, at least, that's how Stiles saw it.

"Isn't it?" Lydia smiled and clapped her hands. Isaac poked his head around the door.

"I'm off to pick up the cake," he said. 

"Don't get the wrong one," Lydia said dryly. "It's the one with 'Happy birthday Stiles!' written on it, so tell them that."

Isaac rolled his eyes and left without another word. Derek wandered into the other room, sitting down and picking up his book. He didn't seem to be reading it, though, and Stiles felt bad for him, but figured that it would be best to just leave him alone for now.

"Do you know what's bothering him?" Lydia asked, immediately noticing that something was off with the alpha.

"We saw two girls earlier and I swear one of them was the spitting image of Derek's sister, Laura."

Lydia's smile turned smypathetic. "Oh, poor Derek. Do you know who she was?"

"No idea." Stiles shrugged helplessly. "Must be just visiting some relatives."

"Erica Reyes!" Jackson screeched from the other room. Erica ran by cackling as Jackson shifted and tore out of the house after her. 

"The hot purple looks fantastic on your claws!" Stiles called after Jackson, grinning as Erica turned and plowed into him. Lydia laughed. 

"He should know better than to fall asleep here."  
__

The sheriff had gotten the day half-off for the occasion and arrived at noon, but he still got back before Isaac. Everyone grew more and more restless by the minute, wondering what Isaac was doing.

Derek was just getting ready to go find him when Allison called out. 

"He's here!"

The door opened, and in came Isaac- and the two girls Stiles and Derek had seen earlier. Lydia's scolding face turned into a polite smile.

"Hello! I'm Lydia, who are your friends, Isaac?"

"We need to talk, now," Isaac told Derek. Derek nodded a bit absently, and Stiles turned to look at the girl. She was amazingly like Laura, and it creeped him out. 

It wasn't until they were all seated awkwardly in the living room that Stiles got a good look at the other girl. She was about 5'8", with hazel eyes and very fair skin. Her shoulder-length brown hair had purple tips, and her face was round, her hair bending in almost a frame around it. She smiled politely at them all. 

"Which one of you is Derek?" she asked finally. The Laura look-alike remained silent. 

Isaac pointed to Derek and the girl nodded. 

"Well, I'm about to drop a bombshell that will either make you want to rip my throat out or make you laugh, so here goes. The girl sitting next to me is your sister, Laura Hale."

Derek blanched, but his face remained motionless. The girl looked understanding. 

"I know it's hard to believe," she continued, "but it's true."

"Laura is dead. Her body was ripped in half," Derek said after a moment, his voice hoarse with emotion. The girl sighed. 

"I know. Let me tell you what happened."

"I-" Derek cut himself off and the rest of the pack watched in silence. "Yes, alright."

"Well, several years ago I was traveling. My family and I were not on the best of terms, and so I left to find my way. I come from L.A., so it wasn't far. I was just passing through here when my car broke down, and while it was in the shop, I met a girl named Laura in the coffee shop nearby. We hit it off immediately, and I was a little miffed that I was just passing through. She didn't say much about herself, but I guessed that she had only one family member left -a brother- and that she wasn't here to stay. She told me that her brother was coming to see her and said she wished I could meet him. I was considering staying at least a night because it was rapidly getting dark, when suddenly she jerked upright. I asked her what was wrong, but then she suddenly ran off, gone before the door had even shut.  
"I'm a curious person naturally, and...well, I have magic. I've used it since I was a child, and so I felt confident in following her to see if she was in trouble. When I got there, however, I was too late. She was dead.   
"Here's where explaining gets tricky. When a person dies, there is still a bit of life force in them for a moment. The werewolf that killed her had left right away, and so I acted quickly. I used a spell, called gedælan. It's hard to explain, but what it does is split someone's spirit in half. It takes all of the life force, all of the personality, but only leaves the person with the memory of the thing currently most important to them. When she woke up, the first thing she said was 'Derek.'" 

During the story Laura- if it really was her -had remained silent, but her face was white and her lips trembled. Stiles suddenly felt that it really was her, as he watched her. Her hands reached out as if they were desperate to touch Derek- not in a creepy way, but as if she needed to feel that he was real because of the time spent apart from her only family member. She contained herself, however, and Stiles could tell that she'd thought about this happening a lot in the way that she seemed to know what to do.

"What did you do then?" Derek asked, voice cracking. The girl sighed. 

"She remembered you, but I couldn't find you. She had no memories, and I was scared and just passing through, so I took her with me. We've been living in Oregon for a while. We both got jobs and it was alright- better than before. But then one day, she remembered. It happens after a while when the gedælan spell has been used. She remembered, and so we came back here, hoping we would find you. And here you are." 

"But, I-" Derek seemed at a loss for words. "How am I supposed to trust you on this? I don't even know your name!"

"My name is Michaela LaTorre. And I don't expect you to just trust me. In fact, there's something that I have to tell you right now that may end in you killing me or throwing me out of the house at the very best, but I feel like I ought to tell you."

Laura- or her look-alike- tensed beside her, seeming to be awaiting something. 

Michaela sighed again. "Anyway, I come from a long line of hunters."

The affect was instantaneous. The werewolves all growled, Scott and Erica shifting, and Derek's eyes flashing. No one moved, however, and Michaela seemed surprised. 

"I left because I don't agree with them," she continued hesitantly, eyeing the werewolves warily now that they knew. When she looked at Stiles, he tried to smile reassuringly, hoping it wasn't creepy. "When they found out I had magical abilities, they had me trained. The training was brutal, but I didn't mind, as I enjoyed the learning. But when I turned sixteen, they decided I needed to join them in hunting. Now, all this time I'd been brought up hearing about how terrible werewolves were, but I wasn't convinced they all were.   
"My first day hunting, nothing happened. We didn't find anything, and I felt so relieved. The second day-" she stopped, taking a deep breath. "There was an omega, a boy, really. He was recently bitten and alone and he was so fucking scared; I could see it in his eyes." She paused again, and Laura reached out, touching her shoulder gently. 

Before, Michaela had seemed to just be telling something that happened. But now, she seemed to be reliving a nightmare, as she shuddered and forced herself to breathe. "They shot him," she continued, "fired into him without thinking twice, without a moment's delay. He fell and I- I ran, I sat by him and looked down at him, and... I lifted his head and sang to him, pulling away his pain with a spell while he cried. He fucking cried. And he was so young."

Stiles couldn't help it. He was up and standing by her before she said the last word. He smiled reassuringly at her again, and she wiped her eyes, laughing a bit hysterically. "We parted ways after that. I couldn't stomach it and they were just- cruel. I traveled here and, well, you heard the rest."

There was silence for quite a while, as each person tried to process the whole thing. 

"If that's Laura, what happened to the alpha status?" Stiles asked after a moment. 

"When I gedælaned her, the status had already been taken away. She's a beta again."

Derek finally spoke again. "Let's go see Deaton."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, 'gedælan' is the old English word for 'divide.'


	3. Chapter 3

Deaton greeted them at the door, having been called before they left and brought up to date. 

"How will you be able to prove this?" Stiles asked him as they all crowded into the veterinarian hospital's ER.

"I can do a blood test on Laura," Deaton told him, "but I'm afraid that we may have to take the other girl's word on faith. If that is Laura, though, she would have been careful about trusting her."

"Alright." Stiles sat off to the side. It was his usual place- he wasn't as important and he understood that. 

Laura stepped up to Deaton, letting him take her arm. He quickly drew some blood, and they sat down to wait. 

Michaela slid into the chair by Stiles. Derek growled lowly and Stiles rolled his eyes, turning to look at Michaela. 

"Hey," he said. She smiled weakly. 

"I know this is hard for everyone, and I just wanted to apologize," she told Stiles. Stiles was confused. 

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because if I tell you and you tell them, they'll be more willing to believe it and more willing to listen."

"Why?" Stiles asked, surprised. Michaela raised an eyebrow. 

"Let me tell you something. That one-"

"Isaac," Stiles interrupted, seeing who she was pointing at.

"Thank you- Isaac trusts all of you. It's not hard to guess. But him, your friend there-"

"Scott."

"Thank you, again. Scott, well, he trusts only you, the two girls there, that boy, and Isaac."

"So, me, Erica, Lydia, Boyd, and Isaac. That makes sense."

"What's that one's name?" she asked, pointing.

"Boyd."

"He trusts the blonde there and you."

"Huh. Interesting. Why are you telling me this?"

"Derek. He's the alpha, correct?"

"Correct."

"He trusts you and only you. The others are building up to it with each other, but for him the only one he actually trusts is you."

"How can you see all this?" Stiles asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"I always had to be silent when I was with my family, and so perceptiveness came to me. I had nothing better to do than watch people, so why not study them? It all comes down to how and when people look at and touch each other. The few decisions I have seen Derek make have led to him watching you for your opinion. Not only does he trust you, he seems to admire you."

Stiles spluttered. "Uh uh. No way. Sourwolf? The only things he admires are his leather jacket and car."

"Think about it, Stiles."

"Well, even if he did, it still doesn't make sense for you to come to me."

Michaela sighed. "You're smart, Stiles, except for when it comes to yourself. Out of all the people I've mentioned, who is one person they all trust?"

"Uh...Well, not Lydia. And personally I think Erica is a bad ide-" 

"You, Stiles." Michaela rubbed her temples for a moment and Stiles smiled sheepishly. "They all trust you."

"...Oh." Stiles cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, then. I'll, erm, tell them what you said."

"Thank you."

"I've got the tests back," Deaton said, coming out of the back room. Stiles didn't miss how Laura jumped up excitedly- something that would be hard for a person to do if they were expecting the wrong results. However, he was determined to keep a sharp lookout. 

Deaton, however, looked excited himself. "They're positive. She's Laura Hale."

Silence fell. The first thing Laura did was run to Derek, stopping in front of him and smiling widely. Derek's face was tormented- obviously he wanted to believe it but wasn't sure if he could. 

"It's me, Derek, it really, really is!" Laura threw her arms around the alpha, and Derek finally bent, hugging her back. 

Confident in his alpha (whether he'd let it show or not) Stiles shoved the rest of the pack toward the door and closed it behind them all, letting Derek talk to Laura. 

"Sooo..." Scott asked, "what now?"

"Uhm. I...don't know." After what Michaela had said, Stiles didn't miss the way they all turned to look at him for an answer. "Lets go get icecream!"

"Okay," Jackson said. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"Yeah, well, you're paying, bud." And with that, Stiles took off down the sidewalk, the pack chasing after him.  
__

"So, like Deaton said, I suppose Laura actually being Laura will tie in with you actually telling the truth," Stiels said to Michaela. The girl nodded, sipping her milkshake. 

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"So that means you know like...lots of magic and stuff, right?"

"A good amount."

"Can you teach me? I'm only a spark- I know. But even knowing some would be amazing. I mean, everyone's a werewolf but Allison, Lydia, and me, and Lydia's a banshee or some shit and Allison's a hunter. So that's leaves me. Researcher extraordinaire."

"I'd love to teach you. It will help keep me active in it," Michaela smiled. 

Stiles turned as the small cafe's door opened. Laura and Derek came through the door, and spotted the pack immediately. 

Stiles felt good about the whole thing when he saw the pair. Laura was smiling widely, one arm thrown over Derek's shoulders as she laughed. Derek was still calm, but the smile on his face showed just how much this meant to him. And to Stiles, that meant everything. 

"Heya, Der!" he called out. Laura chuckled, sliding into the booth next to Michaela. Derek sat opposite them. 

"Hello, Stiles," he answered. 

"So Derek was just trying to get me up to date on all of you," Laura told Stiles. "I think I know who's who. You're obviously Stiles, since you get away with anything."

"That's me!" Stiles smirked. 

"So that's Jackson?"

"Yup."

"Lydia, Erica, Isaac, Boyd, and Scott."

"Um, switch Scott and Boyd around."

"Oh! Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "Duh. Okay. So, you're not a werewolf, right?"

"No. I was just telling Michaela I'm the researcher, basically. I tell them random crap that they pretend is useless and then it ends up saving their lives."

"That is so not how it goes!" Scott called over his shoulder from the other booth. Stiles stuck his tongue out at him. 

"It is too! Now shut your trap!"

"And they're all werewolves but Allison and Lydia?" Laura asked, smiling at their antics. 

"Yep. Lydia is a banshee or something along those lines and Allison is-" He stopped. "Well, I suppose it would be a bit hypocritical of you to judge. She's a hunter."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Oh. I see."

"Well, I'm obviously not one to tell you not to trust a hunter," Michaela said, "but we've got to be careful, including me now that I've 'gone rogue.'" 

From the way she made quotations with her fingers, Stiles figured that that was actually a hunter term. How original.

"Well, she's tried and true. I mean, at least according to me. Scott's opinion on her doesn't matter because he starts drooling whenever she shows up- ow! How can a wadded up napkin hurt that much?" Stiles threw the offensive item on the floor, shooting his best friend a dirty look.

"We need to discuss where to go from here," Laura said. 

"You can stay with me," Derek said. Laura smiled. 

"I figured on that, but what about Michaela?" she said. Michaela shook her head.

"Stay with Derek. I'll hunt around for a job and get my own place. I know I need to earn trust for myself- and staying with any of you won't do any good. I know a guy out here who will give me work."

"Where?"

"Uh...the bakery." Michaela snorted. "I'm okay at it- it will do. He's an ex-family friend. Basically he's on my side, which means not my family's and potentially yours."

"Mr. Conly?" Lydia asked incredulously. "Why hasn't he said anything about the werewolves, then?"

"He's lying low right now, trying to stay out of battles and whatnot. He was like me- he doesn't do magic, but he was expected to start killing werewolves and just couldn't do it."

"Well, you try out there. If you can't find anything, we'll try to help," Laura said. 

"Alright."

"So, at least that's settled." Stiles grinned at Laura. "Welcome home."

"Thanks, Stiles. It feels good to be back, even after everything."

"Well, I hope you get to make nice, new memories here."

"Wow, that was deep for you, Stiles. Also very corny," Derek said.

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "A joke? Out of you? Hey Scott! Go stick your head out the window and see if the sky is falling, will ya?"

"Sure thing, bro," Scott called back. Laura eyed Stiles and Derek curiously, her gaze drifting between them.

Derek picked up Stiles' milkshake and drank it.

"Hey! Laura, make him buy me a new one!" Stiles whined. 

Laura sighed. "And my new role becomes clear: mother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I included that Lydia's a banshee, but nothing else is really from season 3. Some things from season 3 may pop up in the future, but most won't.

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy! Reviews are wonderful, of course, even if you think it's shit.


End file.
